AICN COMICS Q&@: Ambush Bug walks down THE EDGE with DC’s Dan Didio and Jim Lee! Find out about the new DCU books; DEATHSTROKE, BLACKHAWKS, ALL STAR WESTERN, SGT ROCK & THE MEN OF WAR, OMAC, STORMWATCH, & GRIFTER!

AICN COMICS: Q&@ is our new semi-weekly interview column where some of your favorite @$$Holes interview comic bookdom’s biggest, brightest, newest, and oldest stars. Enjoy this latest in-depth interview filled with @$$y goodness and be sure to join the rest of your favorite @$$Holes for their opinions on the weekly pull every Wednesday with AICN COMICS REVIEWS!

Ambush Bug Talks about the New DCU With Dan Didio & Jim Lee

Hey folks, Ambush Bug here with another extra special Q&@ for you. DC has been the talk of the town recently. The @$$Holes are wrapping up a Roundtable discussion on all of the big changes coming to the new DC Universe, so look for that. In September, DC Comics is going to launch 52 new titles. Though all of the changes are too big to cover in one 15 minute interview, I’m planning a follow up / more in depth interview with Dan Didio and hopefully Geoff Johns once the dust settles after all of these big changes.

Right now, we’re going to focus on THE EDGE, DC’s most recent announcement, which exemplified a grittier, more action oriented corner of the DCU. Before we dive into the interview, here’s the rundown of the titles and creative teams behind DC’s new EDGE line.

STORMWATCH #1: written by Paul Cornell with art by Miguel Sepulveda. BLACKHAWKS #1: written by Mike Costa with art by Ken Lashey SGT. ROCK & THE MEN OF WAR #1: written by Ivan Brandon with art by Tom Derenick ALL-STAR WESTERN #1: written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Moritat DEATHSTROKE #1: written by Kyle Higgins with art by Joe Bennet & Art Thibert GRIFTER #1: written by Nathan Edmondson with art by CAFU & BIT Finally, OMAC #1: written by Dan Didio & Keith Giffen with art by Giffen & Scott Koblish

Now that you know the rosters to these books, let’s find out more about them…

AMBUSH BUG (BUG): Hi Dan and Jim, how are you doing today?

DAN DIDIO (DD): Good. Thank you. How is everything with you?

JIM LEE (JL): Good, thanks!

BUG: Going pretty well. I hear you guys have some really big changes here in the near future with DC and I know that you guys have THE EDGE family of books that you are announcing today, so let’s talk about that. I talked with David [Hyde] a little bit ago and he said that maybe we could do a follow up about the rest of the big changes some other time, but we will focus on THE EDGE today.

DD: That’d be great. I would love to be able to talk to you guys about it a little later on. It might put it all in perspective.

BUG: Yeah that will be great. Okay, well let’s start out with THE EDGE. What is this new corner of the DCU all about?

DD: Yeah, do you want this one Jim?

JL: You go on.

DD: Okay, it’s what we consider our fringe book, you know that really is well along the borders of the DC Universe, a little bit, I hate to keep saying it, edgier. It definitely has a lot more sense of action and adventure and a lot more of it seems to be what goes on on the fringes of the DCU.

JL: I think you could interpret the word “edge” in multiple ways, but I think these are the characters where they aren’t as necessarily black and white as other parts of the DC Universe and these are characters that really have to play on a completely different set of rules just because they are not necessarily as powerful as some of the main characters that you see in the pantheon of the DC Universe and yet they are equally as powerful in their own kind of unique ways, so you actually see their influence affect all of these other characters within the DCU, but they don’t necessarily take center stage like with characters from say like The Justice League for example.

BUG: Okay, well actually these are the type of characters that I favor more than the mainstream ones. They seem to be a lot of fun and also it seems like you can do a lot more with these characters.

DD: I’m with you 100% on that. This is the place that I love. It was something I that really gets me excited. I mean don’t get me wrong, the other things are really the bread and butter and the heart of the DC Universe, but this in itself is great.

BUG: Yeah. So let’s get into specifics. Let’s start out with BLACKHAWKS.

DD: With BLACKHAWKS, we really want to go and take the original concept with BLACKHAWKS #1, which is basically an unattached team of fighter pilots out there and getting involved in different styles of adventure and really just expanding on it. It started as a group of pilots, but we are really making it an organization that’s really working in the corners of the DCU attacking a lot of the darker places where the regular superheroes won’t go. So these are normal people and we really want to get that high-octane sense of action adventure in this book, you know, with a lot of crazy planes and different types of weapons and things like that. It’s going to be our high tech book.

BUG: Jim, I know that you are going to lend your designs to the new JLA, but is this going to go like universe-wide? Are you going to be designing all of these new titles as far as the look?

JL: There’s about fifty or so that I have worked on. It’s interesting just seeing some of the reactions and things people respond to; what I designed and what I didn’t design. The truth is, I think most people, aside from the things I’ve worked on with JLA, they might not tell necessarily right off the bat that I had a hand in the design. It’s more subtle and it wasn’t the work of one person. I worked with Cully Hamner and then often the actual artist of each book. One thing we didn’t want to do is really burden the artist of any particular book with a designer they weren’t happy drawing with, so a lot of times they would submit the first idea and then I would riff off of that and we would kind of go back and forth and I probably would chime in and it was a very sort of organic process where a number of different creators and all of that sort of came together and came together to design it all. It was very interesting how it all worked where you would have one person who kind of had a look that worked and everyone kind of thought “That’s awesome. We will roll with that.” You would think that that was a very difficult process with so many people involved, but at the end of the day once people started turning in things that seemed exciting that were very evocative of those characters it sort of all happened so quickly, so it was a pretty exciting project to work on.

BUG: Interesting. So you can’t have BLACKHAWKS without Lady Blackhawk, can you? Or can you?

DD: I think that’s one of the stories I want to reveal along the way, but it will be a wide diversity, a nice wide diversity of characters that will be part of the Blackhawks team.

BUG: Can’t wait to see that one. Let’s move on quickly to ALL STAR WESTERN. Can you tell me a little bit about that one?

DD: Yeah, we thought it would be fun for Jimmy and Justin to do what they’ve been doing with Jonah Hex to some of the rest of the Western heroes. What we decided to do is keep it a Western book, but add in the rest of the DC Universe. It’s like what we are doing with DEMON KNIGHTS, which is the DC Universe set in the Middle Ages. We are actually bringing Jonah Hex into the DCU and it takes place in Gotham City and you are going to be seeing echoes of the present DCU in Jonah Hex’s period of time. So we are going to have some fun with that, plus the best part of SGT. ROCK AND THE MEN OF WAR and also in ALL STAR WESTERN is that we will be doing backup features on those books that are a little bit different and will essentially have other characters in those books that will be different spins on the war motif or the western motif. So this book is not just about Jonah, but will have other characters from the Western universe taking part in these adventures.

BUG: Sounds great, I love Palmiotti & Gray’s Westerns. Let’s move on to some of the Wildstorm stuff. It was a big deal last year when all of the Wildstorm titles were brought to a close. It looks like you are bringing STORMWATCH and GRIFTER into the DC Universe proper. Is that correct?

JL: Right.

DD: Yeah, well it was important to us that when we shelved those characters that we knew they would return in some form or fashion. Being able to launch those books as part of the September launch is, I think, critical to their future success. I think it’s not just the Stormwatch characters we all know brought into the DCU. They’ve been reimagined. They have been re-thought through and I think last year ended the characters at a good place. I think what is really interesting is that these characters are new and different, yet somewhat like the ones that readers remember from the Wildstorm days, so I think it’s a great opportunity for us to kind of get Stormwatch and Wildstorm characters in front of new readers and get them established as an important part of the DC Universe.

BUG: I see the Martian Manhunter is going to be a part of STORMWATCH. What went into the decision to bring him into that book?

DD: We really wanted to capture the Martian Manhunter’s side of a manhunter and really make him a force within the DC Universe. These are strong characters he’s dealing with with Midnighter and Apollo and Jack Hawksmoor, so it feels just natural for him to be standing side by side with them. Martian Manhunter will be part of the front line of the STORMWATCH team.

BUG: And GRIFTER. What can you say about that book?

DD: Jim?

JL: You know what? It’s just badass. We are really happy with how GRIFTER is coming along. This is a chance for us to reinvest some of the standbys of the Wildstorm universe, but to my delight I mean the stuff that was rolling in is spot on Grifter and I really love all of the things they are doing with the characters and Grifter was by far the easiest one to integrate within the DCU.

DD: I also want to bring the focus back to the artist because we wanted to bring a really dynamic style to so much of what was going on and we have an artist on board with ALL STAR WESTERN—Moritat, who did some beautiful work for us on the SPIRIT books. With have CAFU & BIT who have been working on THUNDER A.G.E.N.T.S moving over to GRIFTER, which we think really helps bring that book alive and we have Miguel Sepulvada who has done some beautiful work for us with BATMAN. He really brings that power to STORMWATCH. We are hearing a lot about where these storylines are starting and coming in and there’s a lot of different starting points for our characters in regards to how much power they still have and how they compare to the old DCU, well we are seeing these well known characters now appearing in the DCU in Apollo, Midnighter, Grifter. We are going to be learning about the new DC Universe through their eyes as they start to move through it.

BUG: I also see that Joe Bennet is going to be part of DEATH STROKE coming up and we haven’t talked about that yet. I just reviewed DEATH STROKE’s FLASHPOINT issue today on Ain’t It Cool and I admired the artwork that Joe Bennet was providing for that miniseries, so I’m really looking forward to the DEATHSTROKE series, which surprises me because I’ve never really followed the character.

DD: I think Joe Bennet is one of the most underrated artists that are our there right now. I think he’s a real talent. He’s done some great work for us over the years, from 52 on up and I think this is a book where he’s really going to get a chance to show he can shine and really break out in a big way.

BUG: Okay. Alright, so I have to ask with my pen name on AICN and all of that. Will Ambush Bug have a place in the new DC Universe?

DD: You know, I’m sorry. We have a lot of fun working with Ambush Bug, but we think he might be left in one of the other 52 different universes right now. We don’t expect to see him any time soon I the new DCU.

BUG: Okay… Alright I guess… I guess, I’ll have to learn to be ok with that, for now. Is there anything else you want to tell me about THE EDGE?

DD: Yeah, I think…

JL: Oh wait, we need to talk about OMAC.

BUG: Oh yeah, OMAC. That’s your title, Dan, right?

DD: To me, the thing to keep an eye on with that book is that Giffen has gotten some really incredibly exciting work on OUTSIDERS and really brought in such a dynamic flair and style of storytelling to that particular book. But he just unleashes completely with OMAC and I’ll tell you, some of those pages are just exploding off the page. It’s fun to see Keith just letting loose with a lot of the ideas and the concepts that were first introduced in DC by Jack Kirby, so I think it’s not just about OMAC, but he’s touching so many of the other bits and pieces of ambiance that Kirby had created for the DCU and it’s probably the most fun I’ve had in quite a while and it’s the most fun he’s had in quite a while.

JL: Let me add something to this, because obviously it’s Dan’s book and you know [Laughs] he can’t speak of it with the same kind of perspective, but let me just say that the pages that have been coming in for OMAC have been spectacular. There’s an energy on these pages that you don’t often see in comics and Dan and Keith are fully channeling that kind of Kirby energy…there’s just an enormous energy to those pages. I think one of the things we often miss about comic books today is that real depth of fun and excitement and the fact that anything could happen on the next page and I think that Dan and Keith are really nailing that flavor. They are putting that flavor out with this book on a monthly basis and you know it’s definitely one of the ones I’ll be pulling and reading every month just because there’s something new and exciting and different.

BUG: Now, I’m excited about it. Dan, what is it like pulling double duty here with being both writer and publisher? Is it getting easier after your stint on OUTSIDERS?

DD: Actually I thought that was a little rough ride for me on OUTSIDERS. The whole thing really went well along the way. One of the biggest problems is the fact that we have gone through a lot of artists and I always like to work with the artist as a real collaborator on these books and that’s why Keith is so committed to this project and we are in it together top to bottom. So I feel extremely comfortable, because when you work with somebody who is as legendary as Keith Giffen, you know you can’t fail. He’s a great guy to work with and he changes you to do better and that’s one of the things that I enjoy the most. It really is the fun part of the job, it really is.

BUG: Great, thank you so much. I appreciate you guys taking the time to chat today. I hope we can talk again soon about the rest of the changes at DC.

DD: Sounds great. Thank you so much.

JL: Thanks, Mark.

BUG: This is just the tip of the iceberg, folks, but I have to admit, a lot of the titles on THE EDGE seem pretty interesting. What do you guys think?

Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole/wordslinger/reviewer/co-editor of AICN Comics for over nine years. Support a Bug by checking out his comics (click on the covers to purchase)!

Glad to see the Wildstorm characters brought back, though I am not sure about them sharing the same universe as the DC proper heroes. Will be interesting since Apollo/Midnighter are just Superman/Batman analogues. My guess is their power sets are probably changed up.
And it looks like Zealot, Maul, Warblade, Majestic, and all the other Daemonite/Khera descendant characters are MIA. Weird that Voodoo isn't though. Would like to see more of the Team 7 guys though, as this is only a fraction of the Wildstorm characters. Will the others be folded in at some point or will they just exist as a separate universe? Or maybe they are introduced through the Voodoo storyline? Lots of good stuff to mine if done right.

I'll stick to pre-Flashpoint DC, thank you. And, yeah, I don't care how good Flashpoint is, I'm not buying it. DC deserves to fail for this. Not because they rebooted their universe, but because of how they did it. They basically told all of their loyal fans to fuck off, so that's what I'm going to do. Post-Infinite Crisis DC was awesome, so, why mess that up? If DC really wanted to relaunch for a new, younger audience, they should've ended the real DCU with a bang, and they should've said "Thank you" to all the older fans who have supported them for the last 75 fucking years. Oh yeah, I WON'T be back after this fiasco falls flat on their faces. Time to grow up and move on with my life, right, DC?

I was a fan of the orignal Stormwatch concept: UN trained teams of SPBs, with a crew of support staff and analysts watching the world's hotspots. Furthermore, the fact they just didn't rush in wherever they wanted to intercede put the Code Perfect needed to be invoked the country or countries involved. Plus the teams were made up of members from around the world (even though my fav was from the US: Backlash. Wonder if it'll eventually involve Team 7).

I don't consider myself really a hater.. so many books I buy and love... this headline sounded bad, but I thought I'd give it a chance. After reading this, it's actually even worse than I thought.
I never thought a western book by Palmiotti and Gray could sound so stupid and terrible. But it sounds really awful, as pointed out above. I can't believe, Bug, you actually think that sounds good.
Midnighter and Apollo in the DCU? Sounds so awful I think I need to stay far away so my memory of those characters isn't besmirched.
Even OMAC, the one I had hope for, looks awful. I was once a huge Giffen fan, too, but OMAC looks very stupid like blue Hulk with a ponytail.
God. just terrible. Jim Lee and I are the same age, too. So I don't want to blame it on him being old. I liked some Wildstorm books..DV8, Tranquility, Friday the 13th, Midnighter, Authority.... but as also said previously, the Imagification of DC just... no.
But, then, I am an old fan who is too grumpy so I imagine Dan and Jim would tell me to keep my money and go f*** myself.

I wanna thank DC. I have absolutely no willpower and their books have been so enjoyable that 90% of my pull list is DC. This left me with some serious issues in trying to fit my favorite Marvel books in my budget.
Come this fall, that shouldn't be a problem.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=32704
Not sure what to think of this. From the spin it sounds like a good reason, but it sucks that it won't see the 550 mark. I was worried that it would take the Flashpoint route. Hopefully though the continuity continues. I would bet that two new titles replace Uncanney one with Cyclops leading and the other with Wolverine leading. Scott stays on Utopia (if its still around) and Wolverine returns and fixes up the mansion.

Since DC is throwing everything out the window in a couple months, there is no reason to spend another cent on any of their comics.
I'm also glad that the Wildstorm characters are being "re-invented" so I don't have to purchase any of those comics either. I have every issue since WildCATS 1 (Image), and it has finally gotten to stupid to continue wasting money on.
Good luck to DC. In a few months it will all go back to DC Classic, but no one will be left to care, especially the idiots who spent all that money collecting all the Darkest Night/Brightest Day crap. It means nothing you fools!!!

Not that I agree with ending Palmiotti & Gray's stint on JONAH HEX which has been mostly excellent. I am intrigued by the idea of them writing some of the other Western heroes like Batlash, Cinnamon, Scalphunter, and some of the other western heroes. Time to spread the wealth. Set in an old west Gotham is a bit cliche, but it sounds like that'll just be the first arc.

That quote fits DiDio perfectly. Hyperbole gibberish to cover up crap.
I learned to read at a young age because of comic books. I've been reading comics since I was two years old. I've been mainly a DC guy all that time. My pull lists have evolved and grown smaller over time, sometimes simply for economic reasons, but I've always been there for DC.
I'm finding myself more disgusted than intrigued by the post-FLASHPOINT stuff being announced. The Teen Titans are unrecognizable, the JSA is MIA, and I'm getting more afraid with each passing day as to what Superman will be in the DCnU. Right now, my DC pull list for September is at four titles, down from maybe 10-12 a month.
I was around for the original CRISIS. I went through the soft reboots. Even as a kid, I could make the distinction between pre- and post-CRISIS. I could follow the continuity, confusing as it could be at times. So it may seem hypocritical that I'd be slamming DC for another reboot (and that's what it is, given some of the solicits thus far), but this one is making me feel ill. So far it's change for the sake of change, which fails more often than not.
I'm hoping that the DCnU is (or, after a year or so, will be retconned into) some take on Earth-1/Earth-2, with the DCU that's been around since CRISIS (or at least INFINITE CRISIS) still there as a fallback plan. Maybe that will take the edge off. But right now, I don't know how long I'll stick around the DCnU, nor do I know if I'll come back if I leave.

Of the EDGE titles announced, I'll be buying exactly 0 of them.
But of the 48-49 titles currently announced, I'll be at least trying 11 of them, (up from the 8 I buy now), so I guess it's a successful strategy for DC. The real question will be how many I buy in the following month, since at least half of those 11 are 'give it one issue to wow me' titles.

I'm a big DC comics buyer but these titles don't interest me at all.
This new DC strategy is alarming. While I appreciate a reboot here and there, the fact that they are doing this TO EVERY ONE OF THEIR PROPERTIES is unbelievable.
Since many of the titles I love seem to be disappearing (or changing dramatically), I will probably explore other titles from Marvel and other comic companies.
By the way, DC, do you read any talkback from anyone? Every site I've read seems to agree that this will be an epic fail. Only 5-10% of people think this is a good idea. Oh, and I love how you are not posting any of the comments on your own blog. I wonder why...

giving love to smaller characters, do feel DC is biting off more than they can chew here. It just seems like 80% of this is going to fail- i.e. find readers. It too much for them to get right and too much for us to absorb. But hey the die has been cast, good luck :)

looks like freaky body armor you'd expect from a action figure variant- Body Blow Superman! Not much of a fan of it- even with the awesome George Perez behind it.
Supergirl, looks good, she never had a standard costume, so nothing icon to wreck here. But the boots are quite odd.
Superboy, wtf, I'll assume it's just a freaky cover and has nothing to do with his costume.

Congratu-fucking-lations Marvel, that was officially the "dickest" of dick moves.
Why didn't you just do this when you shifted ALL of your attention away from the X-books, leaving them to rot in favor of the boredom that is the Avengers?

That sums up how asinine the thinking is behind the DCnU reboot.
Shame, too. Perez on writing and art would normally have me excited.
And Supergirl and Superboy look like ass. Kudos for taking the simplest designs and fucking them right up, Jim Lee!

I also like the idea of Palmiotti and Gray writing Cinnamon, Scalphunter, etc.... who knows, maybe they'll do Rawhide Kid, and then I'd HAVE to buy an issue. But the "bringing Hex into the DCU" (isn't he already there?) and Old-West Gotham, sorry, can't do it. Old West Gotham????? That doesn't make ANY sense at all.... Really.... If its still NYC, then Hex being there is totally illogical... if it isnt... that would be even MORE senseless. And that seems typical of the half-assed thinking behind this.
I agree with the poster above, though, I'll sample some of the books and buy them on an issue by issue basis.
I appreciate DC because it has way more female leads than Marvel. I buy Zatanna, Birds of Prey, Power Girl. Marvel has X-23 (which rocks) but that's about it.
For example, Batgirl I will buy. I know that may be the most hated revamp, but I'll give that one a chance, as well as the new Birds of Prey. Hmm... that's only two but Im sure I'll check out plenty more.

DC has been gradually getting worse since that guy took over.
DC copying the worst Marvel and Image had to offer in the 90's?
I still believe all this is nothing more than a very long Age of Apocalypse-type deal. The changes are too stupid to be taken seriously.

This is... what? The 20th time DC has rebooted/reimaginated it's lineup and characters since 1984??? It's this kind of short-sighted garbage that's caused so many people to drop comics since the 1990s, including me. Why should ANYONE invest time, money and effort into a completely new DC history/universe when we ALL know that it's simply going to chucked at the first opportunity DC has to get MORE publicity and one month sales by trotting out ANOTHER stupid gimmick?
This simply shows — yet again — this company's lack of loyalty and respect, not only for its longtime fanbase and current readers (what happens to Batman, Inc. with this new decree?), but for the characters themselves. They don't care about writing GOOD stories. All they care about is tricking new suckers and speculators into buying their garbage by slapping the modern version of foil, multiple and holographic covers onto their comics... the "reboot."
"All NEW!" "Number 1 issue!" "New Universe!" Pure B.S. Don't waste your money and time on DC's crap. You only encourage them to continue doing more of the same. >:(

worked most of the day, had lunch, took a nap...
a reboot of the dc universe....FUCKING BULLSHIT.
Batman has been the best he's ever been and it hasn't even been Bruce Wayne. I love Dick.( god damn that sounded gay) I think Dick Grayson and that little brat that's robin now has been some of the best stories... Dick trying to live you to Bruce's memory... and dealing with his kid... awesome stuff, and now it's all out the window. I had recently pulled a box out of the closet of old image comics and went through them... they were fucking horrible. The Authority was great, but that's only because Lee wasn't involved.
DC can suck my balls through my drawls. I'll be spending my money on something else... probably gas.

It's going to be a lot of fun watching these terrible ideas, these terrible character redesigns and these terrible comics all self-destruct. These guys have absolutely no idea what they're doing. They're fully aware of this. They know failure is inevitable. But now they're all in so they have to spin this like a motherfucker. No other option. The real question is how will they respond after all this junk swirls around the bowl and down the tubes? Another reboot? More redesigns? Back to basics? It doesn't matter. The forecast calls for fail, no matter what they do.

I think what DC is doing is great. It needed the change in the worst way. All you fuckers out there who are just hating just for the sake of hating are hardly what I’d call comic book fans. If the comic is cool then it deserves a chance. And what defines a cool comic? It should have an interesting concept, great writing, and amazing art. If you have those three things, then you have a cool comic. It’s up to the publisher to market the book in the right way in order to garner interest. But I’m not going to shit all over the titles before the damn things have even come out! I have to say most of the titles mentioned here really aren’t my cup of tea, although Deathstrike and Black Hawks sound interesting. I may give Omac a try too. I think it's good that DC is trying something new. There probably are plenty of people out there who will like this part of the DC line. Diversity is always a good thing.

Rehashing the 90's (costumes and storylines) and having every title beginning at number one (while ending Action, Batman, and Detective's numbering) isn't bold.
There's nothing wrong with Superman's or Wonder Woman's costume. (WTF was wrong with Zatanna's costume? She looks like Katy Perry going to a Like A Virgin concert with those retro fishnet gloves Madonna used to wear.)
There was nothing wrong with Clark and Lois's marriage and returning Barbara Gordon to pre Killing Joke status fucking sucks! She's much better as Oracle!
This "reboot" isn't going to bring in new readers and I hope when this fails, Didio, and Diane Nelson are given the boot. Jim Lee needs to go back to just drawing.
DC isn't going to get my money come Sept.

Here's the thing. I don't know if I like the new stuff 'cause I haven't read any of it yet. It's entirely possible that all the stuff DC puts out in September is total crap. If that ends up being the case, then by all means unleash the hate. I'll certainly be voicing my displeasure with my wallet. What I find kind of irritating is the easy, sort of narrow minded dismissal of everything that DC has been announcing the past couple of weeks. It's one thing if it's genuine DC fans who are upset about their favorite titles and characters getting wholesale changes. I get that. I'm not even talking about the criticisms on all the new costume designs. That at least is fair game since we have something to look at and critique. I'll even take it a step further and say the apprehension of seeing drastic changes coming to the entire DC line makes sense because we have no idea how those changes are going to turn out. But a lot of the comments I've been seeing on the net the last few days doesn't seem to be coming from the DC fan crowd. My impression is that most of the ones tossing bombs probably don't even have any DC titles on their current pull list or have never had any interest in DC titles. Me, I've always been a Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern fan. I've also enjoyed Firestorm and JLA in the past. The Superman titles though have been positively abysmal in the last two or three years. JLA has been kind of interesting since Robinson has been on the title. But to me, that isn't the real JLA. I'm hoping the changes we'll be seeing come August and September will translate into better, more exciting stories. But as of right now the only titles I'm willing to spend money on are Detective Comics, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Core, JLA, Batman& Robin, Amazing Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Force, X-Factor, FF, and Irredeemable. But I won't hesitate to dump the DC titles if I don't get a good product. As a comic book fan, I want to give DC a fair chance. I’d like to think that other comic fans are willing to do the same.

Why does everyone keep saying everything is out the window?
If you read any of the press releases, it isn't.
Gotham isn't in Arizona you fuckwit, Jonah Hex is coming east. There was an east, even in the Old West you know.
Dick was still Batman just before this revamp. Did anyone think Grayson was going to stay as Batman? Nope. That would have reverted in a short time anyway. None of that has changed. The Batman books look to be picking up right where they left off.
Blackest Night/Brightest Day all still happened. Most everything all still happened. Only some details have been changed. Not all of continuity erased.
Superboy has been a shit character since day one. They have done multiple things to reboot him. Hell, they killed him and brought him back already. His power sets is completely different than when he was launched. All the sudden he is some sacred cow?
Superman is not wearing armor morons. He has boots. Who gives a fuck? That is your reasoning to taking DC to the woodshed? That he got new boots? Idiots.
Stop making up fucking details and read the actual news. Or better yet, read the stories when they come out. They put out new books/creative tams every damn month. Any real fan of comics knows that these revamps happen every six months. If they suck, drop them. But I would guarantee some of these books are very worthy and will be better than what they are putting out now.

Batman is not being rebooted. How Barbara is Batgirl again has not been revealed. They are also mum on whether Killing Joke is still cannon, which means it probably is. Actually use facts to make determinations, as opposed to rumors or just making shit up, which so many of you dumbass talkbackers love to do.

I believe you have called me a "Fuckwit" since I asked about Jonah in Gotham, and I even said that if he is coming to Gotham aka NYC, well, that is stupid. That is out of character and that does not bode well. Since my favorite writers are still on that book, there is a chance I will give it one issue, but the idea sounds so bad that I may not.
"Any real fan of comics knows that these revamps happen every six months. " Really... I'd say a revamp of this level has NEVER happened before. I haven't seen the new and reviled Zatanna or Harley Quinn costumes, but those are two examples of excellent costumes that didn't need changing. I do actually remember Zatanna's two costume changes way back in the early 80's, both sucked.
"But I would guarantee some of these books are very worthy and will be better than what they are putting out now." Really? And how would you guarantee that?
Current DC books I buy, and would like to keep buying, but am dubious about the future: Jonah Hex, Gotham City Sirens, Birds Of Prey, Batman and Robin, Zatanna, Titans, Secret Six, Power Girl. I buy Flashpoint, I bought JLI: Generation Lost but its over. I bought Batwoman when it was published. I bought Wonder Woman until her revamp. That revamp was so awful I had to drop the book.
So, yeah, I think most of us who are "hating" will probably check out some issues... but what we have seen so far hasn't had one single positive "that's cool" or "that looks good." Really, I can't think of a single one.

I did expect Dick to stay as Batman, dick. And I did read the whole article and a few others regarding this reboot. With Bruce coming back and taking the mantle again, Dick remained as another Batman. I've been reading Batman for 20 years, and this has been the best it's ever been. They were shaking things up without a "reboot". The reboot is lame. That's my opinion and it's based off of years of buying and reading these comics. So calling me an idiot for my opinion instantly makes me think you're a bitch.
Honestly, I'm guessing you're actually Jim Lee defending this bullshit, and Jim... the only shit of yours I liked was when you worked on the Punisher when you were a nobody. sorry.
as for Superman... he's always had boots... or were those just red socks? It's more than that, and you know it. So don't be fucking stupid.
besides... what's a "tams"?

The positive is that Grant Morrison and Rags Morales are doing Action comics, and the pic looks very good, although Supes is in pants, normal pants, not the full uniform.
Also Batwoman seems to have no change at all. Batman and Robin seem the same, but if I read it correctly, Dick is back as Nightwing and Bruce will team up with Damian. I will probably not buy Batman and Robin anymore in that case, but I don't think its a terrible move. Catwoman seems to be the same as well.
I looove Suicide Squad and having Harley and Deadshot is great. Buuut... King Shark? And worse... Harley's new costume is just the worst. Um, DC wants the women in pants but has turned Harley into a total whore, and Zatanna is not that much better. She does look like Katy Perry, its true.
But there's a little bit of goodness, I suppose.

Why is the "new" Superman wearing Iron Man's boots? If there's one superhero who doesn't need armor, he's it.
And Supergirl: What's with the "keyhole" boots? Is she taking fashion advice from Power Girl?

If I wanted to buy Image comics, I'd buy Image comics. If DC art is going to turn into Image, I hope they get the sales losses they deserve. Thanos' New Coke observation is right on the mark too. And Lee's redesign of Mr. Terrific just doesn't have enough spandex, tattoos, and Las Vegas costume in it. Add more, Jim. Add More. And complete the tragedy.